A railway bogie holds various kinds of operative components such as electrical and mechanical wiring and fluid piping, and many of them are exposed. Therefore, such equipment is likely to be damaged by chunks of ice, small stones, small animals etc. In particular, the wires and pipes under a railway bogie are easily damaged in winter or in a cold region due to the chunks of ice and accumulation of ice and snow. Accordingly, when railway vehicles operate under wintery conditions, their bogies must be winterised to prevent the bogie equipment from being damaged.
Conventionally, the applicant has used bent stainless steel sheets as winterproof impact guards for the bogies of its multiple units sold under the name Alstom Coradia Nordic. The steel sheets have high strength and are thereby suitable as impact guards. In addition, the steel sheets can be bent to appropriately cover otherwise exposed equipment under a railway bogie.
However, this known steel sheet solution is not very satisfactory. Indeed, upon impact, the steel sheets are prone to plastic deformation. Accordingly, they need to be replaced frequently. In addition, when a steel sheet is strongly deformed, it often damages or destroys the wires and pipes behind, which it is supposed to protect. That is to say, it is sometimes even necessary to replace not only the distorted steel sheet but also the wires, pipes and hoses after a collision. Due to the high stiffness of the folded steel sheets, the supporting secondary structure may also be damaged, which then needs to be repaired as well. Moreover, a metal fatigue fracture of the steel sheet may occur at its bend.